Antonio Conte's men, despite conceding the lion's share of possession, dominated the chances on home soil and got their just desserts when Willian netted in the second half. However, with 15 minutes left, a defensive error allowed the visitors to pounce and Lionel Messi secured an all-important away goal for Barcelona to take back to the Camp Nou.

Speaking after the game, Fabregas, who has played for Barcelona both as an academy and senior player, is under no illusions about the result and how Chelsea must play in the away leg on March 14.

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"We go home today thinking that we completed good work, competed very well - we should be proud of that - but at the same we are also sad. I think 1-0, even 2-0 if we would have gone up, would have been a fantastic result," the 30-year-old told BT Sport after the game, as quoted by football.london.

"Now you give them a big chance because at the Camp Nou they are very strong but it is still open. We are positive. We have seen today that we can compete. At the Camp Nou we have to play another excellent game to go through."

"I think you have to have personality to play in these kinds of games. It’s not easy when you are defending, when you are playing against a team that has 70% of the ball basically all the time.